Now Sony has even more of a reason not to release the album, though. For every ten people who were going to buy it, now only maybe four will since it's been leaked. Only a few people would download it, and then buy it when it comes out (if it ever does).

The album is pretty good. I hope Fiona gets to see some money from it, or at least, y'know, gets to work again.

the thing that disappoints me is that it seems she could be doing more about it than she has been. its been done for nearly two years right? and where has she been during this time? if she really believed in the album she should've put it up on her website and started touring behind it and forced sony into releasing it. or said, hey, let me buy it back from you and i'll take it to another company who will release it. or, if none of those would've worked, ATLEAST done something to make a little publicity like playing the album in its entirety like every weekend at Largo for a few months and then letting the album spread through the leaked live recordings and such. i dunno, you havent even seen an interview from her about this stuff in forever. it seems like she's either just given up on it, or afraid to speak up about it. either way, there is no reason for someone as awesome as her to just fall off the planet like this.

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Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

An emotional artist finds release -- yet doesn'tFiona Apple's new album, leaked on the Internet, reveals more freedom. Still, there's no CD through her label. Source: Los Angeles Times

Nobody's taking credit for spilling Fiona Apple's unreleased (and possibly unfinished) third album all over the Internet, but the action has upped the ante in what's become pop music's biggest art-versus-commerce dust-up since Wilco versus Reprise Records and Danger Mouse versus the Beatles.

Now Apple's record company is cracking down, she has clammed up and fans are still manning the barricades.

The New York-bred singer-songwriter whose first two albums, 1997's "Tidal" and 1999's "When the Pawn ... ," made her a commercial and critical success is a perfect centerpiece for this drama. Edgy and vulnerable, mercurial and uncompromising, she's the heroine of a fervent cult and a classic potential victim of the crass music business.

Despite her initial impact — "Tidal" sold nearly 3 million copies and earned her a Grammy for the song "Criminal" — Apple was a high-maintenance renegade, refusing to play by the record industry's rules. That earned her ridicule from the mainstream, and intense loyalty from fans who identified with her idealism and emotional openness.

So it's understandable that there would be high anticipation for her first new music in six years. Trouble is, with both Apple and her label, Sony's Epic Records, declining interview requests, it's unclear what really happened to it.

Fans who are protesting with demonstrations at Sony headquarters and petitions at www.freefiona.com and by sending apples to Epic executives say that the singer turned in her album, "Extraordinary Machine," in May 2003 and that the label decided not to release it because they didn't think it would sell enough to justify its costs. Sources at the label contend that Apple's submission was a work-in-progress, not a completed recording.

The matter became an issue when two tracks from the collection appeared on the Internet last year, followed by the entire 11-song album earlier this year. A Seattle radio disc jockey, Andrew Harms, also obtained a copy of the album and began playing it.

Epic's only comment has been two vague statements. The first, issued in February, concluded, "Fiona has not yet delivered her next album to Epic, but we join music lovers everywhere in eagerly anticipating her next release." A shorter statement, released Thursday, said simply: "Epic is continuing to work with Fiona's management toward the release of this project."

And for the last couple of weeks the company has been warning websites that have posted the music to remove those files or face legal action. Many have pulled the songs, though disc jockey Harms said Thursday that he is still playing the album on Seattle's End Radio (107.7 FM) and has heard nothing from the label.

If the saga is cloudy, the music itself is unambiguously potent. One rumor floating through the instant mythology of "Extraordinary Machine" is that Apple herself wasn't happy with it. But if the album eventually comes out in anything close to the form that could be downloaded from the Internet, it will mark a striking artistic advance for an already formidable musician.

In her first two albums, Apple emerged as a songwriter who could twist the conventions of the confessional lyric into intriguingly distinctive shapes, drawing on a dysfunctional upbringing to bring a rare candor to her scenarios of romantic obsession. The vehemence of her delivery made it seem as if a therapist's couch must have been part of the studio furnishing.

Her singing wasn't what you'd expect from such a waiflike figure — her voice was authoritative, low, and smoky with jazzy inflections, evoking comparisons to Nina Simone. On "Pawn," producer Jon Brion's pop-cabaret instrumental backing was unobtrusive, framing her singing with a flavorful but restrained mix of pop instrumentation and string arrangements.

Since then, Brion has crafted quirky soundtracks for such films as "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "Punch-Drunk Love" and "I {heart} Huckabees," and he's brought some of that cinematic sensibility to his new collaboration with Apple.

In "Not About Love," the strings are as vivid and dimensional as an animated cartoon character, serving not as a static frame but as a true foil for Fiona, stomping ominously into the Randy Newman-like bridge, then billowing out into an aural ballroom dance.

The scrap-yard symphony of the bouncy "Used to Love Him" also evokes grainy old cartoons, and in its structure and scope the title song suggests a Broadway production number. Underscoring a new search for variety, "Get Him Back" is a ramshackle rocker built on the "Wooly Bully" riff, and "Better Version of Me" is soaked with chimes and carnival-like swirls.

Apple's singing is supple, spontaneous and eccentrically personal throughout the 11 songs, and Brion's more aggressive approach draws out more of her humor, always a crucial if subtle ingredient in her music.

Not that she's turned all sunny. Through all these stretches, Apple chronicles obsession masterfully, capturing the exhilarating balance of excitement and terror that comes with not being in control. "I think he let me down when he didn't disappoint me," she sings in "Get Him Back," distilling her perverse need to be let down.

And in the six-minute blues/noir epic "Oh Sailor," she offers what may be her ultimate self-defining verse:

Everything good I deem too good to be true

Everything else is just a bore

Everything I have to look forward to

Has a pretty painful and very imposing before.

The fans might be chanting "Free Fiona," but it's pretty clear from this music that she's been freed as an artist.

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“Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol

So Fiona Apple performed at Largo last night with Jon Brion. She performed last Friday too and the word was that was so good they decided to do a more formal performance, dress for the occassion and film it. There were two cameras. Fiona looked and sounded terrific. Jon and Fiona also said, in what seemed to be an official statement, from the stage that the album is coming out soon.

Other news about the album that I don't believe has been updated on xixax at least, is that Fiona went back in the studio and did some work with moogy producer and Jon Brion compadre, Brian Kehew. It has been rumored that she will be releasing two versions of EM, another rumor is that there are some completely new songs and EM will be quite different from the leak. So far, the album is still called Extraordinary Machine. Seems likely we'll finally see a new release from Fiona Apple before the end of this year whatever the case and I won't be a bit surprised if the bonus material includes live DVD performances from Largo.

Setlist (order may be screwy because I was a bit dazed):"Extraordinary Machine" with only Jon's acoustic guitar accompaniment."River Stay Away From My Door" also with only acoustic guitar."Paper Bag" Here I believe Benmont Tench stepped up to piano, and Nickle Creek also came up to play their respective instruments: violin, mandolin, acoustic guitar and Jon also stayed on acoustic."Tonight You Belong To Me" Same players and several also provided harmony vocals."Fast as You Can" I believe this was just Jon on acoustic, Chris Thile on mandolin, and Fiona singing, though Benmont might have been there on piano. This was completely awesome. Chris does a very awesome version of this himself but it was a real treat to see Fiona singing it of course. Fiona left the stage briefly but came back to sing "Everyday" and I think everyone was back onstage for that one and some provided harmonies.

It was a good night.

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I just met a wonderful new man. He's fictional but you can't have everything.

Fiona Apple Album to be Officially Released (Finally!)Source: Pitchfork

Fiona has been freed! And it turns out she was holding herself hostage this whole time. According to a press release on her website, seductively eccentric piano thrush Fiona Apple will FINALLY release her third full-length, Extraordinary Machine, on October 4 on Epic. As everybody and her mom knows by now, an early version of the album has been floating around on file-sharing networks for eons, with rumors that evil label execs were keeping the collection of quirky post-cabaret ditties locked in the vaults because they weren’t commercial enough. Not so! Apparently, Apple just hadn’t finished the record-until now. The Extraordinary Machine you’re going to have to pay for (at least until somebody leaks it, too) will feature just two of the tracks us pirates are familiar with, alongside new recordings of nine of the previously leaked songs, and one new tune, "Parting Gift". And lookee here, you can listen to "Parting Gift", as well as the rejiggered version of "O’ Sailor" on Apple’s website and Myspace page. iTunes will begin selling the two tracks together as one of them "bundle" things tomorrow, with other online music stores hawking them separately.

The new Extraordinary Machine was produced by Mike Elizondo, whose name you might recognize from the credits on various Dr. Dre-related records. (Fiona goes gangsta!) Soundtrack superstar/Kanye-friend Jon Brion helmed the leaked version, but the official album will sound "radically different," Elizondo told the New York Times. "Everything was done from scratch." Mmm...fresh-baked Apple pie, made from scratch. Can’t wait to dive in.

NO JON BRION! HOLY SHIT!

Press Release from her website...

For Immediate Release

August 15, 2005

Fiona Apple Completes Long Awaited New Album Extraordinary Machine New Fiona Apple Website Launches With Two New Tracks

New York, NY – Acclaimed artist Fiona Apple has completed her highly anticipated third album Extraordinary Machine and it will be released by Epic Records on October 4, 2005. Extraordinary Machine, produced by Mike Elizondo (Dr. Dre, Eminem and 50 Cent) and co-produced by Brian Kehew, contains twelve new tracks from this groundbreaking artist.

"Now that my album is finally finished, I am very, very excited to have people hear what we did – I am so proud of it, and all of us who worked on it." says Fiona Apple.

On Monday, August 15, Fiona Apple’s new official web site will launch at www.Fiona-Apple.com unveiling music and album artwork from Extraordinary Machine. Fans visiting the site will be the first ones to hear two songs in their entirety from the new album: "O’ Sailor" and "Parting Gift." In addition to the launch of the site, there will be an online promotion allowing fans to enter to win the new CD and a chance to see Fiona Apple live in concert.

Also on Monday, fans will also be able to listen to the track "O’ Sailor" at online social networking destination, www.myspace.com. On the following day, Tuesday, August 16, various digital music stores will make "O’ Sailor," available for download and Apple’s iTunes Music Store will offer an exclusive bundle download of "O’ Sailor" coupled with "Parting Gift."

Fiona Apple established herself as a visionary singer/songwriter at the age of nineteen with her debut album Tidal in 1996. This stunning album went on to earn her a Grammy Award in 1998 for “Best Female Rock Vocal Performance” establishing her as an uncompromising and original artist gaining intensely loyal fans all over the world . Fiona’s second album, When the Pawn…..was released in 1999 showcasing Fiona’s edgy and elegant musical genius. Fiona Apple's highly touted albums and captivating videos have earned her numerous accolades from music fans and the music industry alike including two MTV Music Video Awards and two Grammy nominations and sales of over 5 million albums around the world.

Mike Elizondo, the album's producer, said most of the songs sound "radically different" from the earlier, leaked renditions, which Ms. Apple had made with the producer Jon Brion. Mr. Elizondo said that he had listened to the earlier cuts, but "once we headed off in our direction I didn't go back to reference them."

"Everything was done from scratch," he added.

Though the leak began with just two tracks, eventually 11 wound up on the Internet. Ms. Apple was already several months into rerecording many of them with Mr. Elizondo, who has been known primarily for his work as a session musician and writer for the rap megaproducer Dr. Dre.

When the earlier versions were leaked, "for a split second I was like, 'are we going to get to keep working on this?' " Mr. Elizondo said. But "there wasn't even a moment where anybody said anything," he continued. "I think from right out of the gate, this is the collection of songs she wanted for her record."

WHO IS THIS ELIZONDO GUY?!? HE SOUNDS LIKE A DICK! BRION MUST BE CRUSHED!

last bit here from Billboard...

Two cuts -- the title track and "Waltz" -- are holdovers from the Jon Brion-helmed sessions that leaked earlier in the year. Another, "Parting Gift," is a new solo piano-and-vocal tune captured on the first take. The rest of "Extraordinary Machine" was produced by Mike Elizondo and Brian Kehew and is made up of the other nine songs that made the rounds online.

Earlier this year, fans seized upon the notion that Epic had rejected the original "Extraordinary Machine" and organized a Web site (FreeFiona.com) and a protest outside the company's New York office in the hopes of bringing the album to the marketplace. But in truth, Apple was not happy enough with the Brion-produced versions to release them. In April 2004, she sought out Elizondo, who played bass on two songs from her 1999 album "When the Pawn...," to help her re-imagine the material.

"That's essentially what we did up until a few months ago, when she felt like everything was ready to move forward," Elizondo tells Billboard.com. "I have a studio at my house, so we added all of her piano, her vocals and live drums to the things I'd already created from scratch using programmed beats. Rather than experimenting in the studio, we tried to get blueprints for each of the songs and then once everything was ready to move forward, we went in and did the finishing touches."

Although he listened to the original versions once or twice "just to get the scope of the arrangement and the melody," Elizondo says he has not "gone back and compared each song. But, there's definitely some things that are far-out experiments and things that turned out really exciting."

"All in all, it's a Fiona Apple record," he continues. "She has a very distinct style of writing and her melodies are amazing. Her chord progressions are incredible. It's not a drastic departure, but within that, there are some elements you might not have heard on a previous Fiona Apple recording."

The confusion about what exactly was going on with "Extraordinary Machine" was complicated by the fact that neither Apple nor Epic made any public statements about the situation. Elizondo acknowledges it was an unusual environment in which to be working.

"My own personal feeling was, on one side, it was a little disheartening knowing there were these versions of the songs out there while we were working on the record," he says. "But on the other side, I looked at it as, it was very admirable she has this amazing core of fans. The way they interpreted it was, the label isn't putting out her record, so we're going to do it for her. That's very admirable. But as time goes on, these fans will understand this is the album she wants to put out."

The first "official" taste of the new album will be available later today (Aug. 15) on Apple's Web site, which will be streaming "Parting Gift" and "O, Sailor." The tracks will be available for purchase tomorrow via Apple's iTunes Music Store.

And while no details have yet been nailed down, Apple looks ready to return to live performance for the first time in years.

"She's expressed a great deal of excitement with the finished product," Elizondo offers. "I've offered to put a band together as well as be a part of that band myself on bass. I've already put out some feelers to local musicians in L.A. that would probably comprise the band I'm thinking of. But there are no performances set in stone. A lot of this material is very much rhythm section-oriented. The parts will really lend themselves to being played live. It will be a lot of fun."

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Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

wonder how people will like this one now that they're used to the pirated version. i remember the reaction dave fans had to Busted Stuff after having The Lillywhite Sessions/The Summer So Far for a while.

Obviously what you are doing right now is called (in my upcoming book of psychology at least) validation. I think it's a normal thing to do. People will reply, say anything, and then you're gonna do what you were subconsciently thinking of doing all along.